Waymo announced that it will begin offering paid robotaxis in Los Angeles starting today. The company has been offering free “on-tour” rides since announcing plans for the service in January, and last month received regulatory approval to expand into a paid service. NBC News reports: Waymo announced Tuesday that more than 50,000 people are on the service's waiting list. The company did not say how many users it would allow to fully use the app starting Wednesday. The company announced last month that it would start with a Los Angeles fleet of fewer than 50 vehicles covering a 63-square-mile area from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles County's population is 9.7 million. The service works similarly to other ride-hailing smartphone apps like Flywheel, Lyft, and Uber, except that Waymo vehicles don't have human drivers. Passengers follow instructions through the app and the vehicle's sound system, while Waymo employees can assist remotely.
[F]Or now, Waymo's only competition is traditional human-driven car services. Waymo's expansion into Los Angeles will bring self-driving commercial taxis to the nation's second-largest city and one that has long been synonymous with car travel. Waymo already operates commercial robotaxi services in San Francisco and Phoenix. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation said Waymo's expansion was being done prematurely without sufficient local oversight of self-driving vehicle operations, but state officials said in an order last month that those concerns He said there was no basis for it.
